How to settle an argument the empath way
by Nayame
Summary: Bella is at the Cullen Mansion again and everyone prepares for a nice movie night. They can't really chose between the films and so, its up to Jasper to help dealing with the problem.


AN: I've watched High School Musical 1+2 yesterday and couldn't stop myself from feeling happy. All that beaming, smiling, grinning and being happy was rubbing off on me. Somehow, it ended in this little story…

(Ah, and by the way: Does somebody know if there are posters purchasable with the cover of twilight on it? Cinema-sized posters?)

It was just a normal Saturday evening at the Cullen's mansion. Somehow, it was beginning like a new tradition: Dad was fishing with his friends like the last weekends and since I didn't want to stay at home alone, I'd joined the Cullen's in their movie-night. Last weekend, we had watched Notting hill and Stardust, the weekend before it had been Indiana Jones one and two.

It was funny how the weekends could change parts of my sleeping-rhythm. The night were long – even though the films were pretty short, we always had something to talk about, or mostly _scoff _about, after them.

Of course, the boys liked action films more than what they called "_girly movies_". Fluff, happiness, romance – who cared about those things when you could have lots of loud explosions instead? That was probably a thing that human males and immortal males had in common, if nothing else. But maybe it was just because they were all stuck in that typical "nothing is better than a good action-movie" age? Who knows? Every time I thought about it, it made me giggle a little. Somehow, it had been a miracle that we had agreed on the movies we had watched so far.

Tonight, it was different.

"Oh, come on, _please_ don't choose that one!" Emmett complained. His wife had picked the movie "_Pirates of the Caribbean_" from their huge selection of movies, while he held a copy of "_Lethal weapon 2_" in his massive hands.

"Hey, what's wrong with it?" Defensively, she held the small box to her body. "So, it _may_ have a love story included, but there's some action for you boys, too!"

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Didn't you get enough lovey-dovey stuff in the last two movies? Its our turn again!"

Rose wasn't used to get opposition – at least not from her mate. "_Lovey-dovey stuff_? Excuse me? Well, maybe there wasn't much for you guys in them, but they weren't so bad, were they?" She shot a questioning glance in our gathered round, hoping for a back up.

"They have been hokey, Rose." Jasper was clearly on Emmett's side.

Alice eyes zeroed on her husband. "Jasper! How can you say something like that?" Last week, she had enjoyed _Stardust_ like no one else in the room. I was sure it was on her list of favorite films by now. "Anyway, in my opinion, we should stick with Rose's choice for this evening. It's not half bad and she is right: It has a little for everyone."

Emmett sighed. "Doesn't anybody else have an opinion about this topic? Carlisle? Edward?" He looked expectantly at them, waving the shiny DVD in their direction.

"Well, I'd go for some more action tonight." Edward said while sliding down on the sofa. He lay behind my back while I was snuggling myself close to a big, fluffy cushion in my arms. "But we have time for two or three movies, so why choose? We could just take both of them."

Carlisle sat on the loveseat on our right hand side. "I agree with Edward. Nobody else picked a movie, so we don't really have to choose. Although three movies might be a little too much for just one evening, concerning how long _Pirates of the Caribbean_ takes."

He wasn't yet finished with his sentence, when we heard Esme from the other side of the room, closing one of the smaller cabinets that contained even more DVDs – just not the most recent ones. In her hands, she held a small DVD-Case: Gone with the wind – the movie from 1939.

Instantly, my face lit up and I didn't need to look into a mirror to know that I had that "_yay! An old romance film!"-_spark in my eyes. Edward had told me often enough that I always got that spark in my eyes when it came to old things.

Of course, the boys just groaned. "No, please, Esme! Not _that_ movie!" Emmett looked like she had dared him to eat something we humans would eat, but certainly no vampire.

Carlisle looked like he wanted to object, too – but he was quickly silenced by one of Esme's rare but all the same chilling glares. She loved old romances just as much as I did. I could see her lips moving very fast but of course, I couldn't hear a word. I could feel Edward chuckle behind me while Carlisle just held his hands up as if in defeat. "I won't say anything. Arrange _that_ among yourselves."

"_Carlisle_!" Jasper, Emmett and Edward complained in unison.

Alice, Rose, Esme and I just grinned at each other. Now, the boys were outnumbered…

"Come on, you can't be serious!" Emmett tried once again to defend their choice. "Esme, please, put that film back into the cabinet! Think about poor Jasper here!"

His brother nodded with a pained expression on his face. "You have no idea how it feels to be in a room with a group of girls who are all melting into puddles of goo because they get so much into the movie."

"Hey, that film is a _classic_!" I had no idea how it happened, but suddenly, I was standing, pointing in Esme's direction. "Don't you _dare_ say anything against it, it's just… just…" I was on a loss of words. "Urgh, it's one of the best romances ever written!" I knew everyone was staring at me by now – normally, I wouldn't say anything about the choice of the movies for the night and now here I stood up against _Jasper _– of all the vampires in this room. I could feel the typical warmth flood my cheeks while I tried not to think too much about what I was doing.

Wait a minute. Did I really say "_don't you dare_" to Jasper? Oh, please, let that one go by unrecognized.

At first, Jasper looked pretty surprised – but at the end of my little rant, he held a mischievous glint in his eyes – _oh, oh_.

"So, how about we settle it like the last time we couldn't agree on a movie?" Carlisle offered. I hadn't looked away from Jasper yet and by now, he was grinning. My gut told me to better back off a little. This couldn't end well.

"If we win, we'll watch Emmett's movie." Carlisle continued, while I sat down and picked up my cushion again. Right now, Jasper was giving me the creeps – and he didn't even need his gift to do that.

Carlisle continued. "And if we lose, we are going to watch the… um… girl's movies. How does that sound?"

Sounded a little bit too confident in my ears, but I dared not to say another word. Who knew how they had settled these kinds of arguments in the past?

"Sounds good to me." Jasper said while looking at me. He knew more than I did, that was clear.

"Yes, I'm okay with that solution, too." Rosalie agreed. The others also nodded in agreement.

"So… Jasper? Who do you want to challenge? Take your pick." Carlisle's voice was calm and friendly, but the fact, that he chose Jasper for whatever reason put me off a little. And what kind of challenge did Carlisle mean?"

I was about to excuse myself to the bathroom so that whatever would happen, would happen without me, but luck wasn't on my side. Of course.

"Bella." His face showed a smirk I only knew from Edward. A _very_ slow chill ran down my spine.

"Please what?" I asked, clearly intimidated by the vampire that was standing in front of me, right on the other side of the low table. He just leaned on the DVD shelf, enjoying himself – and probably his ability to chill me.

I heard Edward let out a low snicker. "Don't be scared Bella, it won't be too bad. He isn't going to hurt you."

Right now I didn't want to sign that statement. "What do you mean by '_challenge_'?" I asked carefully while avoiding any look at the grinning vampire.

Alice spoke up. "That's easy, Bella. You are going to confront Jasper. Don't worry, he won't go all vampire on you, he was chosen since he's the only empath in this family and every other gift is just too… unfair in a challenge. I mean, obviously, no one could challenge me in a guessing game or Emmett in a fight, so we always take Jasper for opportunities like these."

"So… This is going to be some sort of '_battle of the emotions'_, huh?" That sounded… interesting to say the least.

"Exactly." My opponent agreed. "Come here and I'll show you how it works."

I put the cushion down and made my way to Jasper. Esme, the movie still in her slender fingers, sat down on Carlisle's lap, leaning on his chest. While I passed them, I could hear Esme cheering for me: "You'll win this one, Bella, I'm rooting for you!"

I smiled and hoped she was right. Just because the boys were so very opposed to watching the film, I had to win for us girls.

I reached Jasper and he mentioned me to sit down on the carpet, just like he did. Facing me, he began to tell me how this 'challenge' was going to happen.

"Bella, you are going to pick a happy emotion. Any kind, think up whatever you can. '_Happy_' because I am going to double that emotion, sending it back to you and I really don't want to make you scream or cry because you chose the wrong feeling. All the while, my palm is going to touch your palm and vice versa. As soon as someone breaks the contact, he or she has lost. Do you understand these rules?" That mischievous glint never left his eyes.

"Doesn't sound too hard." I said after a moment of thought. I could do that. Well, I wasn't sure about winning, but this kind of challenge sounded almost too easy. Before Jasper would be able to send the emotions back at me, he would have to feel them first for himself, doubling them and _then_ he could let me feel them again.

I readied myself by getting into a cross-legged sitting position, hoping that I wouldn't lose balance that way.

"Go for it, Bella." Alice cheered while giving me an encouraging pat on the back. I wondered if she had already seen the outcome…

"So, let's have a test run." The vampire in front of me said and raised his hand to the height of his head, his palm facing to me. After a short moment, I copied that, slowly putting my palm on his one – I did not want to startle him too much. Unlike the other Cullen's, he wasn't really used to touch me.

A split second, I could see his jaw clench, the muscles in his neck tensing. Though, before I could take my hand away, he took a deep breath and loosened up again. He sent me an apologetic smile and I just smiled warmly back at him. There was no need for any apology; he wasn't used to my direct touch after all.

He closed his eyes and before I knew what was happening, a bubbly feeling flowed through my body, a mixture of 'putting me on edge' and the feeling I always got while reading heart melting scenes in a good book. It probably didn't even last as long as a heartbeat but it had startled me and was just a little too much for me right now. I heard myself squeal and the next moment, I didn't feel his icy skin against mine anymore – I had withdrawn my hand.

Dumbfounded, I looked back at him. "What was that?" I asked a little breathless.

Jasper just laughed at me, he still had his hand up in the air. "That, my dear Bella, is what you are going to put me through should I lose against you." Calming down a little, he asked: "Are you really sure, you want me to endure that for… How long does the movie take, Esme?"

"Two-hundred and twenty-four minutes, Jasper." She answered merrily, snuggling closer to Carlisle.

I could see the Cullen men cringe at this information. This was going to be a very, very long night if I won.

And I had no intention of losing.

I couldn't hide the grin from my face when I looked in Jasper's eyes again. "Sorry Jasper, but I'll do my worst."

He shook his head but grinned back at me. "Oh, I really hope so."

Once again, I let my hand touch his, the spark of competition in my eyes.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready." I told him.

I had chosen a nice, happy feeling. Nothing that would overwhelm me like what he had sent me before. The others watched us curiously, as our silent battle began.

In the beginning, it wasn't too hard. I felt happy, then a little bit happier – Jasper was quick with doubling my emotions. I concentrated hard to keep a poker face, not intending to show any signs how hard I was trying to hold myself back. Happier, even more happier - slowly, it was starting to leave the "happy"-area, beginning in the "bubbly"-part that I always felt when I had an especially good day.

Jasper's eyes were closed in concentration but a smile was tugging at the corners of his lips, threatening to spread a huge grin over his face.

Bubblier, bubblier, it was getting hard. Slowly, we reached the laughing-fit kind of happiness – complete with the first few giggles on my part. As the time passed, it was getting harder to leave my hand connected with his. Slowly, my fingers began to bend.

"Eeee…." I let a low squeal out – I was beginning to laugh but Jasper wasn't unaffected, either. He started laughing just seconds after I did.

I heard Alice's voice just behind me – I hadn't noticed she had sat down behind my back, I was concentrating too hard to leave my hand where it was. "You can do it!" She cheered for me. I could even make out Rosalie's voice in the background, rooting for me.

"Come on, Jasper, don't let her win!" Emmett complained.

"I have no intent on doing that." He hissed between clenched teeth, trying hard to keep his hand up just like I did.

Slowly, my stomach was taking his toll on this duel – it started to hurt because of the strange breathing pattern. I leaned forward, pushing my hand a little more against Jasper's while bracing myself for whatever would come next.

"Bella, just a few moments longer!" Esme urged – she could probably see better than I did what was going on by now – tears were running down my cheeks. I wasn't even sure I could hold this up for only two more seconds.

_Bella, concentrate! It's Gone with the wind! And you can't just lose against Jasper – the first time you _reall_y get a chance to win against a Cullen in a competition!_

But at the same time, I was counting down the seconds. It was impossible to endure this any longer, it felt like the hardest laughing fit I've ever had.

All of a sudden, the resistance against my hand disappeared and if Alice hadn't caught me in time, I would have fallen straight on my face. I brushed the tears from my eyes so I could get a better view on my opponent.

Just across from me, Jasper was lying on his back, having the cruelest of laughing fits I had ever seen on one of the vampires. I could feel how his hold on my emotions slowly subsided – but the way he was just lying there made me laugh again in return. Seeing Jasper in a good mood was rare – seeing him laugh was even less frequent, but a full blown laughing fit?

"Bella, please stop that!" He pleaded between two gasps for breath. "_Please_!"

"Sorry." But I had a hard time calming down myself. By now, I could hear the others in the room snickering, too.

It took almost ten minutes until we were on our "emotional starting level" again. Jasper propped himself up on one of his elbows and looked at me again. "Man, I didn't know you could really stand those emotions… Congratulations, I know of several vampires who chose the same feeling as you did and they broke contact long before I had to do it now." He smiled proudly – even though he had lost to a human right now.

"Well, it has been a hard fight – against you and myself." And it has been, indeed. I already knew that during this evening or at least until I woke up tomorrow, my muscles would start feeling sore.

Two strong, cold arms wrapped themselves from behind around my waist, carefully pulling me up again on my feet.

"Congratulations my love, you just defeated your first vampire." Edward's silky voice was directly at my ear, sending his cool breath around my head. He, just like Jasper, sounded a little proud of me. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. His icy lips tenderly kissed the spot directly under my ear.

"Man, Jasper, now we have to watch the stupid girly-movie!" Emmett complained from the back of the room, putting his movie back in the shelf. "Did you _have_ to be defeated by her?"

"Hey, it's not my fault she can keep herself together so well. As I said: I never had an opponent that did a better job than she did!" Jasper was on his feet again, trying to defend himself.

"Then choose a _vampire_ next time." His bulky brother mumbled just loud enough so I could hear it.

Edward led me back to our sofa, pulling me down with him. "You did an amazing job, Bella." He whispered. "Finally someone who can vanquish our empath."

"Don't get your hopes up too high, Edward, I was on the very edge of losing, too. I just had a good reason to try as hard as I could."

From the counter of my eye, I could see Esme send a wide grin in my direction.

"So… It's _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and _Gone with the wind_ then?" Emmett asked, clearly wishing to be somewhere else.

Rose sighed, put her movie back in the shelf and sat down on one of the sofas. "Well, let's watch _your_ stupid movie instead, mine won't disappear after tonight. Maybe we can keep it for next week. But the first movie is Esme's!"

Happily, Esme strode to the DVD player, put in the silver disc and went back to Carlisle, making herself comfortable on his lap. "I _love_ that film." She sighed.

"Hum. Well, I guess, that's fine with me then…" Emmett said, taking his movie out of the shelf again.

A few moments later, we were all settled around the huge TV. We girls were snuggling close to our partners – probably the only reason why they did not leave the room when the more… _heartmelting _scenes came up.

But every time that happened, I stole a glance at Jasper who would always roll his eyes because of our feelings. Each time, I sent him some of the happiness from our game – and each time, it seemed to lighten his mood a little.


End file.
